News

RIAA joins industry partners to identify key impediments to effective copyright protection in foreign markets.

If there’s one thing we know for certain about the music industry, it’s that licensing is uniquely complex. One example why? Two licenses are required for every track – the sound recording (the artist’s recorded performance of a song, usually owned by the label) and the underlying musical work (the songwriter’s music and lyrics, such as in sheet music, usually owned by the music publisher).

Proposal to simplify licensing would benefit music fans and mean market-based rates for all music creators, says RIAA in filing with U.S. Copyright Office "Modernizing the licensing system for musical works is a win for everyone...must be a collaborative exercise," says RIAA CEO

Progress In Some Countries, But Russia, Switzerland, Other Nations Fail to Implement Adequate IP Protections

RIAA Chairman & CEO Cary Sherman submitted written testimony to the U.S House Judiciary IP Subcommittee regarding its hearing on the notice and takedown provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. See here for his comments.

Today, the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) released its report highlighting markets around the world in which the theft of U.S. intellectual property is open and notorious. Included in its report were a number of online sites that have a uniquely prejudicial impact on the ability to develop viable legitimate online music marketplaces in some key territories, and whose practices are particularly intolerable. There are three in particular that jump off the page: Russia’s vKontakte, Ukraine’s ex.ua, and Vietnam’s Zing.

Today our colleagues at the International Intellectual Property Association (IIPA) submitted, on behalf of us and other creative industry organizations, a report to the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) on recommended reforms “needed to address the theft of intellectual property and other barriers to overseas markets faced by U.S. industries that rely on copyright protection.” That submission was part of the USTR’s annual so-called “Special 301” process. You can read more details here.

Remarks come as RIAA hits 35 million takedown requests to Google for illegal content

The RIAA submitted our recommendations in connection with U.S. Trade Representative’s annual “notorious markets” cycle, an initiative designed to expose businesses who operate illegally, whether by profiting directly from the sale or other distribution of illegal materials or from facilitating such theft—in many cases through the sale of advertising space. The common thread shared by these notorious markets is that they unfairly deny creators the opportunity to generate revenue from the commercial use of their works.

Asks Congress to facilitate discussion on DMCA in testimony before House IP panel